|
|
As this is my first time ever, getting involved in a web log that is, please forgive uninteresting parts and by all means make me aware of them.
Due to matters of the heart I have moved back to Holland in 2004 from living on Phuket Island, Thailand for the previous 8 years.
As hearts are among the least reliable life support systems and people in general only have one of them, I died July 5th 2005.
Well…….although I really felt like dying, I am slowly getting a grip again and start seeing a tiny spot of light at the end of the tunnel.
As you can see from my profile I am running a small travel agency out in the south of Thailand getting people to enjoy various active outdoor activities such as SCUBA diving, sea kayaking, mountain climbing, jungle (jeep) safaris and such.
Although it has been a horrifying and very sad experience, in which many natives and tourists alike lost their lives, during “our” December 26th tsunami life must go on.
As some of you might have learned, we had huge water problems on the west coast and that did not help business. BUT all is back to “normal” now.
Phuket Island’s main income is out of tourism and so no tourists…….no income.
It has been said many times so one more time want hurt, if you really want to help go and visit Phuket. Stay in their hotels, participate in their daily excursions, go on their live aboard dive safaris, eat in their restaurants and buy your souvenirs.
Okay, so you think that was boring? Well, a guy is aloud to make a living, right?
My story……..
Last living in Holland in the town of Wassenaar, running a fitness center called Aerofit.
Having done that for about 3 years (almost 24/7) I thought it time to move on………
How I got to Scuba diving:
After teaching, the Friday last, aerobics class in Jan. 1992 (in an other fitness center) we all sat at the bar having a drink when one of the class participants complained about business not doing too well at the travel agency he was working at.
We talked some and I got a very good deal traveling to Diani, Kenya at cost price.
One little problem was the flight would be the next Monday and I had no idea of what to expect or do out on a beach somewhere in Africa. In fact I had never before thought of visiting Africa. Grabbed some t-shirts, shorts and got on the way.
Once at Diani I had a really nice hotel including pool and such only this is not my idea of a holiday. I always need to do or explore something. After breakfast and a dip in the pool I started wandering the white powdery beach. I remember how strange it was seeing guards walking the beach carrying riffles in between sun bathing Europeans. Well to get to the point, I stumbled over a sign saying “Scuba introductory course starting NOW”. Bringing back to mind pictures of Jacques Cousteau’s adventures and the frogman from old James Bond movies I though to give it a go. Again, I never considered perusing a scuba license before. Before long they sat me down in a small office like space, and I was watching a video about the first steps into breathing under water. As this holiday hardly costs me a penny I decided to go for it and get my Open Water Scuba license right there. It would set me back some 200 US Dollars but hé, at least I would have a goal in Africa.
It took me 4 days including 2 days out on a boat and actually being submerged into the Indian Ocean. I thought this experience to be unrelated to anything else I had ever experienced before in my life. It became the soul activity of this week, except for a few visits to the “Jungle baby bar” where I drank some beers and got into the “dark African” rhythms (dancing that is for the idea of 1 out of 3 Kenyans being HIV infected did not appeal too much to me). Once back in Holland I browsed around some to find a small dive school in the nearby village of Voorschoten. This couple, who had just enthusiastically started a school in their house, educated me further into the techniques and wonders of the underwater world. Needless to say diving in Holland was not at all what I have experienced in the Indian Ocean of the coast of Kenya. Anyway, I was bitten by the Scuba bug and devoted a holiday to diving. My choice was the Maldives. This was my first intentional leap into the ocean without having an instructor or a known buddy at my site. I do admit being nervous but the excitement won and it became one of the most rewarding holidays I have made so far. In 1992 the coral bleaching had not taken place yet and so I remember the Maldives as an underwater garden of colors and shapes of coral beyond any imagination. Of course the fish as well but I have been told they are still there for anyone to see. While being on a safari Dhoni, cruising the north Male atoll and diving when ever you felt like it, I decided to become a Dive Master myself to be able to show others, in a safe and pleasant way, the wonders of the Oceans. I have worked as a dive guide on Curaçao (one of the Dutch Antilles), east coast Malaysia, Bali (Indonesia) and needless to say all possible sites of the west coast of Thailand (including Similan and Myanmar former Burma).
Okay, now you know how I got into Scuba diving.
Going to Thailand:
As decided I left Holland to try my luck in the sun, Thailand. At the time my sister and her boyfriend got an offer to buy a small bar/restaurant in center Patong and asked me to join them and help set up the business. It was September 1995 and so we still had about two months before high season would kick in. It soon became clear that being in Thailand holding a tourist visa and working was not the best of ideas and so we decided it best for me to work away from the watchful eyes of immigration. The only option was being out on a boat, dive guiding. So I went off living on boats for the better of the next two seasons being on shore for 2 or 3 days every 2 months.
Have to go now but will continue soon (please let me know your findings).
Due to matters of the heart I have moved back to Holland in 2004 from living on Phuket Island, Thailand for the previous 8 years.
As hearts are among the least reliable life support systems and people in general only have one of them, I died July 5th 2005.
Well…….although I really felt like dying, I am slowly getting a grip again and start seeing a tiny spot of light at the end of the tunnel.
As you can see from my profile I am running a small travel agency out in the south of Thailand getting people to enjoy various active outdoor activities such as SCUBA diving, sea kayaking, mountain climbing, jungle (jeep) safaris and such.
Although it has been a horrifying and very sad experience, in which many natives and tourists alike lost their lives, during “our” December 26th tsunami life must go on.
As some of you might have learned, we had huge water problems on the west coast and that did not help business. BUT all is back to “normal” now.
Phuket Island’s main income is out of tourism and so no tourists…….no income.
It has been said many times so one more time want hurt, if you really want to help go and visit Phuket. Stay in their hotels, participate in their daily excursions, go on their live aboard dive safaris, eat in their restaurants and buy your souvenirs.
Okay, so you think that was boring? Well, a guy is aloud to make a living, right?
My story……..
Last living in Holland in the town of Wassenaar, running a fitness center called Aerofit.
Having done that for about 3 years (almost 24/7) I thought it time to move on………
How I got to Scuba diving:
After teaching, the Friday last, aerobics class in Jan. 1992 (in an other fitness center) we all sat at the bar having a drink when one of the class participants complained about business not doing too well at the travel agency he was working at.
We talked some and I got a very good deal traveling to Diani, Kenya at cost price.
One little problem was the flight would be the next Monday and I had no idea of what to expect or do out on a beach somewhere in Africa. In fact I had never before thought of visiting Africa. Grabbed some t-shirts, shorts and got on the way.
Once at Diani I had a really nice hotel including pool and such only this is not my idea of a holiday. I always need to do or explore something. After breakfast and a dip in the pool I started wandering the white powdery beach. I remember how strange it was seeing guards walking the beach carrying riffles in between sun bathing Europeans. Well to get to the point, I stumbled over a sign saying “Scuba introductory course starting NOW”. Bringing back to mind pictures of Jacques Cousteau’s adventures and the frogman from old James Bond movies I though to give it a go. Again, I never considered perusing a scuba license before. Before long they sat me down in a small office like space, and I was watching a video about the first steps into breathing under water. As this holiday hardly costs me a penny I decided to go for it and get my Open Water Scuba license right there. It would set me back some 200 US Dollars but hé, at least I would have a goal in Africa.
It took me 4 days including 2 days out on a boat and actually being submerged into the Indian Ocean. I thought this experience to be unrelated to anything else I had ever experienced before in my life. It became the soul activity of this week, except for a few visits to the “Jungle baby bar” where I drank some beers and got into the “dark African” rhythms (dancing that is for the idea of 1 out of 3 Kenyans being HIV infected did not appeal too much to me). Once back in Holland I browsed around some to find a small dive school in the nearby village of Voorschoten. This couple, who had just enthusiastically started a school in their house, educated me further into the techniques and wonders of the underwater world. Needless to say diving in Holland was not at all what I have experienced in the Indian Ocean of the coast of Kenya. Anyway, I was bitten by the Scuba bug and devoted a holiday to diving. My choice was the Maldives. This was my first intentional leap into the ocean without having an instructor or a known buddy at my site. I do admit being nervous but the excitement won and it became one of the most rewarding holidays I have made so far. In 1992 the coral bleaching had not taken place yet and so I remember the Maldives as an underwater garden of colors and shapes of coral beyond any imagination. Of course the fish as well but I have been told they are still there for anyone to see. While being on a safari Dhoni, cruising the north Male atoll and diving when ever you felt like it, I decided to become a Dive Master myself to be able to show others, in a safe and pleasant way, the wonders of the Oceans. I have worked as a dive guide on Curaçao (one of the Dutch Antilles), east coast Malaysia, Bali (Indonesia) and needless to say all possible sites of the west coast of Thailand (including Similan and Myanmar former Burma).
Okay, now you know how I got into Scuba diving.
Going to Thailand:
As decided I left Holland to try my luck in the sun, Thailand. At the time my sister and her boyfriend got an offer to buy a small bar/restaurant in center Patong and asked me to join them and help set up the business. It was September 1995 and so we still had about two months before high season would kick in. It soon became clear that being in Thailand holding a tourist visa and working was not the best of ideas and so we decided it best for me to work away from the watchful eyes of immigration. The only option was being out on a boat, dive guiding. So I went off living on boats for the better of the next two seasons being on shore for 2 or 3 days every 2 months.
Have to go now but will continue soon (please let me know your findings).
Favorite blogs
Links
The last few days.
30 Jun 2007, 19:10, 46
x viewed
Het is weer bijna zover dat ik weer naar europa mag komen. De laatste dagen is het hier ook gelukkig weer goed weer en hebben we de eerste maand van het regenseizoen naar behoren doorgemaakt, veel regen dus. Aan alle kanten hoor je de toeristen dan ook klagen over de regen en de hoge golven De eerste verdronken toeristen zijn helaas ook alweer bij de statistieken bijgeschreven. Er schijnt dit seizoen een nieuw fenomeen haar intrede te doen nl. er zijn binnen een maand 2 bankovervallen gepleegd door, jawel een Nederlander die enkele uren daarna gepakt is en een andere buitenlander die met 420.000 Thaise Baht nog voortvluchtig is. Never a dull moment!
Na de Nederlandse ambassadeur met mijn aanwezigheid te hebben geëerd heb ik me gisteren de lounge party in The Loft laten welgevallen.
Vandaag was dan ook de, voorlopig laatste, Hash run een zware. Gelukkig was deze niet al te lang en ook redelijk vlak, wel moesten er steeds over het pad liggende bomen worden over geklommen wat het ritme er goed uithaalde. Na de vers getapte Heineken biertjes van de party was het echter een welkome loop. De "circle" heb ik niet afgewacht en ben lekker in 't zonnetje, vermoeid maar voldaan, rustig teruggereden naar Kamala om te douchen en me klaar te maken voor het afscheidseten met Keith en Ta. We hebben op de food market een paar oesters, deep fried inktvis, gebarbecuede garnalen, een deep fried snapper en wat sateemd rice genoten. Na de drinkjes van gisteren maar wat sodawater erbij in plaats van bier. Daarna in de Old Dutch de opbrengst van de vorige dag opgehaald en terug naar huis waar ik nog een gezellig telefoontje van Mounir kreeg. Morgen nog even met mijn motorbike naar de reparateur i.v.m. de voor rem welke spontaan blijft remmen. Volgend seizoen haal ik haar maar eens helemaal uit elkaar om de boel te reviseren. Mag ook wel een keer, 't beesie is al 20 jaar oud. Eens kijken welke leuke kleur ik haar spuiten zal.
Nu rest mij nog de vlucht naar Bangkok de 3de en dan de 4de in de avond naar Zürich en door naar Schiphol. Ik heb ook al weer veel "huiswerk" in de vorm van updates voor de websites, zowel tekst, foto’s en nieuwe onderwerpen. Ook wordt het tijd dat ik www.DuikenThailand.com ga vertalen naar het Engels en Duits, zijn er onder de lezers mensen die hier goed in zijn en het leuk vinden mij hierbij te helpen, hou ik me aanbevolen.
In Bangkok heb ik nog een bezoekje aan een oude vriend en het shoppen voor een paar nieuwe Asics wedstrijd schoenen op het program staan dus dat moet lukken. Tot zover weer vanuit Phuket, Thailand gegroet!
Na de Nederlandse ambassadeur met mijn aanwezigheid te hebben geëerd heb ik me gisteren de lounge party in The Loft laten welgevallen.
Vandaag was dan ook de, voorlopig laatste, Hash run een zware. Gelukkig was deze niet al te lang en ook redelijk vlak, wel moesten er steeds over het pad liggende bomen worden over geklommen wat het ritme er goed uithaalde. Na de vers getapte Heineken biertjes van de party was het echter een welkome loop. De "circle" heb ik niet afgewacht en ben lekker in 't zonnetje, vermoeid maar voldaan, rustig teruggereden naar Kamala om te douchen en me klaar te maken voor het afscheidseten met Keith en Ta. We hebben op de food market een paar oesters, deep fried inktvis, gebarbecuede garnalen, een deep fried snapper en wat sateemd rice genoten. Na de drinkjes van gisteren maar wat sodawater erbij in plaats van bier. Daarna in de Old Dutch de opbrengst van de vorige dag opgehaald en terug naar huis waar ik nog een gezellig telefoontje van Mounir kreeg. Morgen nog even met mijn motorbike naar de reparateur i.v.m. de voor rem welke spontaan blijft remmen. Volgend seizoen haal ik haar maar eens helemaal uit elkaar om de boel te reviseren. Mag ook wel een keer, 't beesie is al 20 jaar oud. Eens kijken welke leuke kleur ik haar spuiten zal.
Nu rest mij nog de vlucht naar Bangkok de 3de en dan de 4de in de avond naar Zürich en door naar Schiphol. Ik heb ook al weer veel "huiswerk" in de vorm van updates voor de websites, zowel tekst, foto’s en nieuwe onderwerpen. Ook wordt het tijd dat ik www.DuikenThailand.com ga vertalen naar het Engels en Duits, zijn er onder de lezers mensen die hier goed in zijn en het leuk vinden mij hierbij te helpen, hou ik me aanbevolen.
In Bangkok heb ik nog een bezoekje aan een oude vriend en het shoppen voor een paar nieuwe Asics wedstrijd schoenen op het program staan dus dat moet lukken. Tot zover weer vanuit Phuket, Thailand gegroet!
 Forward
|
|
Flag as offensive |
| Tags (i) | ||
| The owner of the photo/video/blog can see who posted the tag, and only friends are allowed to tag. Max. 10 tags per photo/video/blog. | ||
Comments
©2004-2008 Hyves
